Page 148 of Avenging Azalea

“Doesn’t this place ever bother you? What you do here.”

Nathaniel turned and looked at me like I’d sprouted a third eye in the middle of my forehead.

“Brother, I never knew it bothered you to kill.”

I shrugged. “I can, will, and have, but that doesn’t mean it gets my rocks off.”

“Then you haven’t tortured the right people. Maybe Neil will give you the amusement you’ve been missing.”

“Maybe,” I said, as I dialed into what was coming.

The cells held four people per cube. The clear wall we walked past allowed anyone to see inside and gave me the impression of lab rats. They looked like they’d been here for years rather than a day. Black eyes, swollen faces, and marks around their wrists. But it wasn’t their physical appearance that screamed impending death. It was the defeated and lost look in their stare. The kind of look that welcomed death to be free of this place.

Nathaniel guided me to a separate, metal box of a room. The door was open, but four armed soldiers stood at attention. As we walked in, they turned and followed us inside, then closed the door behind us.

Death hung heavy in this room. The disinfectant smell mixed with the stale scent of old blood made my nose curl, but any discomfort I had was wiped away when my eyes adjusted to the dim light and landed on the man in the middle of the room.

Neil had been stripped of all clothes and chained with his ankles and wrists spread in a wide X. He was filthy and looked pathetic with his head hung like he’d already given up. But it wouldn’t be that easy.

With a click, a spotlight above Neil turned on, illuminating the display. I stood outside the bright light. My breath was steady even as my pulse thundered. I looked at the table beside me, and the tools Nathaniel had organized glinted. Scalpels, clamps, branding irons, saws, and pliers all at my disposal. There were even live fire ants twitching and swarming in a clear glass jar.

Neil slowly lifted his head and looked around, squinting to see into the darkness beyond.

“You stole her peace. Her innocence. Her fucking safety. You were supposed to take care of her, and instead, you used her, abused her, and sold her like a common whore.”

My voice was low, nearly a growl.

“I want you to know that you’re never leaving here. No matter how much you beg or try to resist…this is your final resting place.”

Neil shivered, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

“But I’m a reasonable man. If you cooperate, I’ll grant you a peaceful death. If not…then you’ll scream and keep on screaming until I’m satisfied. That could be a day, a month, a year, but you will beg for death,” I said.

“She has you fooled,” Neil said, and then licked his lips. His eyes darted around, still unable to see me even though he knew that I was right in front of him.

“Is that so? Enlighten me,” I said, silently walking around to the table with the wide array of tools.

“Fawn liked it. She begged for it,” he said.

There was nothing else he could’ve said to send me over the edge any faster. Grabbing the pliers, I spun around and snatched Neil’s nipple between my fingers.

“Ahhh, no don’t, please….”

Neil screamed and tried to pull away, to no avail, as I clamped the pliers around the stretched skin. With a tight squeeze and twist, it tore easily off his body. He cried out as he stared at the bleeding wound where his nipple had been.

I stepped into the light so he could see my face and what was coming for him.

“You mistake me for a man that can be manipulated by your bullshit. Say that again…I dare you,” I growled.

He whimpered, eyes wide like he had just realized how fucked he really was.

When Neil remained quiet, I stepped out of the light and set the pliers down. He jumped at the sound of the metal hitting the tray.

“Now that we understand one another. I want to know how you found Fawn?”

I didn’t think Neil’s eyes could get any wider, but they did when I turned on the small portable forge. It hissed and whooshed as it lit and began to glow.

“What are you doing?” His eyes were trained on what must have looked like a glowing mouth in the darkness.